Following the Scottish Government’s update on 20 August to the routemap out of the Covid-19 crisis, we are thrilled to announce a programme of seated outdoor performances. These include a special production of Puccini’s La bohème and Pop-up Opera performances of Mozart’s Don Giovanni, Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Gondoliers and a new work, The Song of the Clyde by Scottish composer Karen MacIver.
With a run of performances for each, we bring live opera back to the stage with physical distancing observed at all times by performers, backstage staff and the audience.
Puccini’s tragic love story La bohème is given a powerful reinterpretation inspired by the current pandemic reality by Director Roxana Haines. Using Jonathan Dove’s abridged score with a running time of around 1 hour 35 minutes and just seven singers and a reduced orchestra, we invite you to join us for outdoor performances in the carpark of our Edington Street Production Studios in Glasgow, for a run of five nights from Saturday 5 September. Find out more.
Our Pop-up Opera roadshow kicks off on Friday 4 September at The Beacon Arts Centre in Greenock before travelling to Platform Theatre in Easterhouse, The Riverside Museum and The Hidden Gardens in Glasgow, Eden Court in Inverness, Heart of Hawick in the Borders, Edinburgh Zoo and The Museum of Flight in East Lothian. Tickets are FREE but spaces must be reserved. Find out more.
We are delighted we can now begin to bring live singing and playing back to you in what is an exceptionally difficult time for so many, so we are thrilled that, in a small way, we can begin to offer a glimmer of hope that live performances can be possible, even if only in reduced scale and appropriately socially distanced.
In response to the ongoing physical distancing guidelines, we will present both La bohème and Pop-up Opera with the audience seated in appropriately distanced ‘bubbles’ outdoors, ensuring you can once again safely enjoy the live music experience. We have a list of Frequently Asked Questions to keep you safe - find out more here for La bohème and Pop-up Opera.